Storyboard Retains Porsche's Iconic 'Christophorus' Customer Magazine — A Rare Content-Marketing Win
Updated: Sep 1
TL;DR: Storyboard has retained Porsche's Christophorus customer magazine account after a competitive pitch — a reminder that owned magazine media is still a durable premium-brand tool.
The win at a glance
On 20-21 August 2026, HORIZONT reported that content-marketing agency Storyboard has successfully defended Porsche's Christophorus magazine account after a competitive pitch. Christophorus is one of the world's oldest continuously-published brand magazines — Porsche launched it in 1952 — and remains a flagship touchpoint for Porsche's global customer base.
The magazine is published in multiple languages and distributed to Porsche owners and prospects globally. Storyboard has held the account for a decade and will continue producing print and digital editions, with an increasing emphasis on premium video, podcast and event content around the magazine's editorial themes.
Why premium brand magazines are quietly thriving
The 'print is dead' narrative is broadly true for mass-market publishing but genuinely false for premium brand publishing. Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Bloomberg Green, Monocle, and now increasingly Rolls-Royce and Bentley all run owned-magazine programmes because the target customer is a print-native, high-net-worth reader who values physical objects.
Porsche's Christophorus is one of the best examples. It positions ownership as membership in a longer-form story about design, motorsport and engineering culture. For a premium brand, the magazine is genuinely part of the product — a Porsche owner receives an object that reinforces the purchase weeks and months after driving away.
Marketing Minute's read
For German premium brand marketers, three implications from Storyboard's win. First, if your brand has a genuine premium buyer, an owned-magazine programme (print plus curated digital) is worth revisiting — the ROI is longer than any social channel can deliver. Second, own-magazine agencies (Storyboard, Territory, C3, KircherBurkhardt) are actually growing while traditional media agencies contract; that pipeline is worth watching for talent. Third, treat the magazine as a live content newsroom, not a one-directional publication — the events, podcasts and digital editions built around it earn compound engagement.
The wider point is about durability. In an ad economy where CPMs rise, algorithms shift and inventory decays weekly, owned brand media is one of the few marketing assets that appreciates over time. A 70-year-old customer magazine is a brand moat that no competitor can copy quickly.
Quick FAQ
Q: Who won Porsche's Christophorus account?
A: Content-marketing agency Storyboard successfully defended the account after a competitive pitch — extending a decade-long relationship.
Q: What is Christophorus?
A: Porsche's iconic customer magazine, launched in 1952 and distributed globally to owners and prospects — one of the world's oldest continuously-published brand magazines.
Q: Why do premium brands still invest in print magazines?
A: Because premium buyers are print-native, high-net-worth readers who value physical objects — and an owned magazine reinforces the purchase for months after delivery.
Porsche keeping Christophorus alive — and pitching it competitively rather than closing it — is a small but instructive counter-signal to the 'print is dead' narrative. When premium customers are your buyers, a beautifully-made owned magazine is worth ten Instagram grids. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
The takeaway: for premium brands, an owned magazine is not nostalgia — it's a compounding brand asset no competitor can copy quickly.
If your premium brand had to reprint its 1952 first-issue tomorrow, would there be one — or is your only long-form asset a set of PowerPoint slides?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: HORIZONT, Porsche AG, Storyboard.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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